Pirate Fishing in Indian EEZ

A crew member cleaning a Tuna fish on-board the Balaji no. 5, a vessel fishing under the Letter of Permit (LoP) scheme. This scheme allows foreign vessels to fish under an Indian flag within the Indian EEZ but only when they have Indian registration and an Indian owner. The Balaji 5, 6 and 9 trawlers were found to be in complete violation of the guidelines, set by the Ministry of Agriculture, by being registered both in India and in Taiwan.